Blazing Love
by GoldenShade
Summary: When a Blazing fire starts in Ambala, Soren heads over to save owlets, he eventually saves one that stands out from the others... One that will change his life forever. Romance/Drama/Mystery/Action *SorenXPelli - The In-Dept Version* Rated for safety
1. Decision

**Hey, I'm new, but I have quite some experience in writing. I've been doing Fanfictions about the Inheritance cycle, and chapters had to be of 3000 words to be accepted by the people there. So I think I might just find a way to please what your brain desires. You may expect vast descriptions in the chapters to come. Although, I am still not a master in the art of romance, so bare with me, please.**

The owls of the parliament had gathered a few hours ago to discuss of various subjects that were in need of attention. Among them featured an audience requested by Bendro, a Great Gray that was also a new member of the Great Tree's Parliament, he had proven himself to be a worthy owl during one of the battles with the pure ones. His request was related to a Forest Fire, although no one knew of what it consisted, Bendro had insisted on taking this audience to the Parliament and not simply talk to Soren, leader of the Band, whom would probably agree on going.

Bendro made his way to the center of the parliament were owls stood to talk. "As some of you may know, I have requested this audience to discuss the recent forest fire that erupted in Ambala, it really is huge. Something must be done to help the resident owls and owlets" Bendro gave a look at King Boron, whom nodded back as a sign to continue.

As he did, "My suggestion today consists of sending the Chaw of Chaws to this Fire, they really are our Elite Squadron and I think anyone could rescue more owlets then anyone"

Ezylryb started, "I must agree on that, they truly are good, which is why they are called the Chaw of Chaws"

"Of course, they created themselves, after all." Queen Baran said, followed by vast whispers in the parliament.

"Could we not ask of their cooperation later on? This is a parliament meeting after all." Bendro said.

Ezylryb nodded and glared at the whispering owls, they immediately stopped and brought their attention back to Bendro. "Please explain in detail what you are planning to do with this" King Boron said.

"Some young owlets have been reported to have survived some fire, they remain hidden but can't last long without food, and there is still a risk of a Pure One attack in Ambala" He responded.

"We need to act, we can't simply let them die, that would be very immoral and stupid" Ezylryb said, glaring directly in Bendro's eyes.

"It is decided then," King Boron started without waiting for the answer of the other owls, "The Chaw of Chaws shall leave tomorrow on a rescue and protect mission to the Kingdom of Ambala, they shall be helped by the search and rescue chaw as the fire seems so big".

Bubo the Tree's Blacksmith got up "And the colliering chaw! Can never run out of em' coals! And I got a feeling we'll get lots of 'em bonks!"

With that, King Boron ended the meeting, Bendro being satisfied with the decision; he truly cared for the young owlets, probably starving to death right now. Just that thought made a shiver run down his back as he closed his eyes to forget. He walked in a hallway as headed for the hollow that Soren shared with other members of the band. Notably, Twilight and Digger. He would make them aware of the Parliament's decision and then head to the other hollow filled with the Band's members and inform them as well.

**This is a prologue, it ain't supposed to be long. Reviews, please. I hate the waiting period to actually post a story, when I joined I intended to post right away.**

**Golden**


	2. Fate

Chapter 1: Fire

Soren, the Chaw of Chaws, the Search and Rescue Chaw along with the Colliering Chaw, were all waiting on the edge of the huge forest fire of Ambala, ready to take action as soon as the one leading the expedition, Ezylryb, would give them the go. The Rybs had been looking at the Fire with the worry of a few owls dieing here, it really was devastating and a lot of trees were falling, those would be very deadly to an owl trying to gather some coals but that ends up being very unfortunate and to get caught in a falling tree's way.

To help prevent such a drama, the Rybs had returned the newly chawed owls to the Great Tree. Most of them had left without a complaint. "Soren, come here please." The barn owl heard, from his ryb, whom was also known as Lyze of Kiel.

"Yes, we are all waiting for your order." Soren simply said, adressing all the rybs.

"Well now you have it, get moving lad! I trust that you will behave and gather some nice bonks" He smiled to Soren whom only nodded and left to rejoin the three Chaws plus the Chaw of Chaws.

They would not depart simultaneously, they would take turns, in teams. A rushed takeoff would make a of a confused flight for those who weren't veterans of the Great Tree. Soren heard Ezylryb yell "Go!" So the first teams of the colliering and search and rescue chaws had departed towards the blazing forest. Most of the owls there could feel the heat from where they had set camp, which was considerably far away. Next in line was the Chaw of Chaws.

Soren deployed his magnificent wings and took off along with the rest of the the Band, plus Ruby and Martin. Part were to gather bonks as the other were required to do both, gathering coals, and rescuing owlets. Soren was required to do both as he was one of the best at colliering, but also at persuasion, and convincing other owls of himself being a guardian of the Great Tree.

Ruby had already gathered a few huge bonks while the others were still looking for their first. Amidst the flames, a Barn Owl was searching, looking everywhere, Soren was looking for owls, or owlets to rescue. That was his top priority, he would only gather bonks if he was certain that there were no owlets in his range to rescue. He looked upwards and saw some of the colliering chaw's students flying around and gathering some coals, he looked around himself and saw a few of the Search and Rescue chaw students breaking in a tree where they had herd some cries for help. He was concentrating, turning his head sideways regularly so that he could detect any sound that would be suspect to an owl in danger. He detected a sound and looked down, there he saw a newly hatched owlet, that could not fly as of yet. He flew down, grabbed him and rushed to the camp. Soren gave a look at the owlet and could not help a small laughter from his amazed eyes, he could almost see himself when he was little.

He landed near Ezylryb who appeared to be trying to calm down a very worried family. "Calm down now miss, please, we will figure this out" Ezylryb was saying.

The lady took a deep breath and looked at her mate in despair, he shrugged as in that they could not do anything more. "Ezylryb, an owlet in need of medical assistance" Soren said.

"We will attend to him as soon as possible, Soren could you please go and scout that area over there?" He pointed towards an unexplored location within the fire, it seemed way to dangerous for anyone other then Soren to venture into. He nodded and flew straight for the blazing flames of the woods.

He flew up high, so that he could find the best way into the fire itself, he could not hear anything as he was too far from any potentially endangered owls. He managed to find a fallen tree, that was about to break in two pieces but was still hanging on another of the burning trees. Which made it a perfect way in, and a perfect way out if the tree did not fall. So he entered.

He looked around while keeping an ear out to any noises. After turning his head multiple times, Soren finally heard a yell. He immediately dived towards the very source of the screaming. Turns out that it was a young owl, perhaps a few moon cycles younger then himself was. As the owl, saw Soren, she stopped screaming and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Pure One! Get away! I shall never follow you!" After hearing it's voice, Soren determined that the owl was in fact a female. She was pretty similar to himself as she was another Barn Owl.

"I am not a Pure One, I am a Guardian of Ga'Hoole, I will lead you to safety" he said, quietly, although he knew that they needed to hurry and that this arguing was a waste of time, the tree could possibly break at any time.

"Sure!" She said sarcastically and lunged at Soren. He did not expect such as attack from this scared owl. She managed to struck him, as she had the element of surprise on her side. Soren now had a huge scratch going from a little above his eye to under it, luckily the slash had not caused any major damage to Soren. Himself hardly moved. _Dear Glaux, why did I have to stumble onto a resisting owl... _he thought.

She attacked again, but this time Soren was ready and simply blocked her talon. "Look, I will prove to you that I am in fact a Guardian" He started to recite the Fire Cycle "It was in the time of the endless volcanoes, where in the Beyond, a few very special owls..." The legend lasted for a minute.

"Quite the choice, considering the situation we're in" She said with a quick smirk and nodded to Soren. He nodded back and took off. She passed him, as he quickly told her the location of the camp. He had heard some more cries for help coming from the burnt grass on the ground. He heard a loud noise, turned around and saw that the tree that was his only way out had fallen on the ground, the fire now surrounded him, the only way out would be from the top, which was still connected by branches and some more fire.

He dived and caught the crying owlet quickly and swiftly. He took as much speed as he could to be able to fly through the fire without too many injuries. The fire was blazing across all the branches, hitting leaves and growing bigger in the process, this would be hard one to get through. Soren looked down towards the little owlet _Your fate will be mine as well _He thought to himself.

**Chapter 2 to be out soon, will contain a short pov on the female owl's point of view and the sequel to this chapter.**

**Golden**


	3. Relief

**Chapter 2: Relief**

_Or will it... _Soren thought to himself. He then took up even more speed so that it could be enough to launch him in the air without him needing to flap his wings for a few seconds, at the least. At the very last second, Soren curved around the small owlet to protect him from any damages from the fire.

He took the full blow which was still a lot. He spread his wings wide as he escaped the fire, with major wounds to his wings but escaped nonetheless. The little owlet appeared alright, aside from a few black marks on one of his wings.

Soren looked towards the camp and saw that everyone, including the chaws, were there and yelling various sentences of encouragement and relief. He barely managed to transport the owlet to the camp and landed in the middle.

There was a considerable amount of people around him, he could not tell who it was as the fire had temporarily blinded him, he had had to look at the fire to choose the right moment to protect the owlet.

"Good one Lad!" He heard Ezylryb yell, he could distinguish his voice after hearing it multiple times in the midst of battle, where hearing is an impossible task.

"This owl might need some attention" was the first thing Soren said. Even though he most definitely needed more attention, his wings burnt.

"**You** need attention" Someone said, seeing that he would not ask for help himself until the owlet would be okay.

"I'm.. Fine.." he responded, shakily. The pain from his wings was a whole lot, though he did not feel it, he had eyes only to the owlet.

"No you're not, now follow me" the mysterious owl said. Soren left the owlet to the others, knowing that he was going to be safe. That was all he wanted for the moment, preserving the owlet's life. That was a Guardian's job, wasn't it? To protect the innocent. And that it what Soren had done, endangering himself in the process.

The owl led him to a squadron of owls along with a few nest-maid snakes that had been brought along to help prevent even the worst cases of wounds. They seemed to all be panicking at the sight of Soren's Wings. They were burnt all over, including a few dark spots near the edges, where the blast had been at it's worst.

"I'm fine, I'll just have some trouble with flying" Soren said, a few of the owls gasped in fear, he was, after all, the Chaw of Chaws' leader, none could replace him amidst the battlefield.

Mrs P, whom had been brought to Ambala by Soren himself, approached him "Soren... You probably will not be able to fly for a while." she stated.

Soren lowered his head in disappointment and let out a sigh. Pretty much all the owls were staring at him with wide eyes to that point.

Suddenly...

"Let me pass!" It was a female voice. The owl was apparently trying to get pass the huge crowd that had gathered near Soren.

She finally made it to him, and panted for awhile until Soren initiated the conversation "Are you not the owl I saved earlier?"

"Indeed I am, I couldn't help but to thank you for what you have done... I probably would have died in there if it wasn't for you." she had been to scared to move at first. There was a possible pure-one menace along with a blazing fire around her.

"It was my pleasure to help you, it was my duty" he said, shyly.

"I'm Pellimore by the way... But everyone calls me Pelli" she said, with a quick smirk to Soren. Some of the surrounding owls had left by then, but some of them were still starring narrowly at the Chaw of Chaws' leader wings.

"I'm Soren" he replied softly, he appeared to be admiring Pelli's self confidence he stared around at everyone looking at him "Shall you come to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree with us?"

"Of course, I have nowhere to go now... My home was destroyed and I doubt I will ever find my friends again, they all fled towards Kuneer Desert"she said, without any tears, or sniffle, nothing.

Her strength greatly impressed Soren, he had rarely seen a female owl that would not react to loosing her home and friends to a forest fire, most of them would be crying right about now.

"We shall leave when the Search and Rescue Chaw give us the go, we need to be sure that we can't save anymore owlets." he said quickly, it was pretty obvious but he did his best to pursue the conversation.

"Of course... Sorry about the scratch too." she then turned her back and left towards the main camp, where Ezylryb was, yelling out commands to the chaws. She was probably going to try to help out evacuating the owlets, though, she would most likely be denied, due to her lack in training. Lyze would assign her to transporting the owlets.

*******Back at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree*******

Soren was sitting at the nest-maid offices, where injured owls would usually gather, his case was a particular one. First, he was the Chaw of Chaws' leader, and the Great Tree needed Soren to be on his top shape at all times. Second, his wings were burnt pretty badly, the snakes said that it would take several weeks before he could fly again.

He would have to keep a bandage on his wing for that whole time, which would be a minus to Soren's morale. The leader would, of course, still attend parliament meetings and spend the majority of his time assisting Ezylryb in his classes, along with teaching young owlets how to read and write. He was particularly looking forward to reading a load of books in his Teacher's company, he could also partly enjoy Otulissa.

*******Dining*******

Pellimore was sitting in the dinning hall with a few of her new friends along with other new owls. The shading always made the King's table emit a beautiful reflection towards the other tables, no one really understood why, not even the His Majesty himself. Perhaps, Glaux knows those of great valor.

Pelli could not take her eyes off of Soren, the mysterious owl who had saved her. She did not know in what Chaw he was, or even his experience, all she could figure out was that he must be someone of considerable importance within the tree to be allowed to sit at the King's table.

She pointed out Soren to one of her friends, the one named Ayanna "He is the owl who saved me from the forest fire in Ambala" she told her.

Ayanna was about the same height and age of Pellimore, she was another Barn Owl "That's Soren... You're lucky to have him rescue you" she said with a quick giggle.

"How come? How is he special?" She said while admiring Soren, while he laughed with Digger, probably to one of those crude jokes that would often be told at their table.

"What you don't know him? Or anything about him? Where have you been living!" she said, mocking Pelli's ignorance on Soren.

"Not really, he just... Rescued me.." she said hesitantly, perhaps fearing to be mocked again.

"Okay, he's a Guardian for first. He also happens to be double chaw'd, which means that he is in the colliering chaw along with the Weather Chaw. Next would be that he saved the Great Tree numerous times along with his best title in my opinion... To be the Great Leader of the Chaw of Chaws, the Great Ga'Hoole tree's Elite Fighting force" she said in one quick breath, and took some long breaths to recuperate.

"Anyways, he's dreamy... A lot of Owls in the Tree would like to claim him as her own, but he is pretty cold with anyone aside from his group of old friends." Ayanna continued.

Pelli looked confused, never had she heard an female owl lust for a male so badly, Soren was a normal owl after all, he had only accomplished great things. But aside from that, normal. She did want to get closer to Soren, perhaps to thank him, perhaps to gain new friends, we shall soon know. It was kind of disgusting to her.

**There we go... 3rd chapter, finally :)**

**Golden**


	4. Chaw

Chapter 4: Chaw

Soren was reading in the library, Ezylryb by his side, both were absorbed by different types of books. His teacher would rather gain knowledge by reading vast quantities of books, such as The Book of Great Weather, which would explain in great detail each and every one of the natural disasters that had hit any of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole that would have lived to tell the tale.

Soren on the other hand, would be captivated by most of the legend books, such as the Battle of the Ice Claws, which he could not stop reading and re-reading. He still had trouble believing that the one who had written his favorite book was sitting a few meters away.

He was reading about a secret fighting art, mostly lost by this time, as the one owl who had ever practiced it was dead, killed by a Hagsfiend a long time ago. No-one had been able to decrypt the coded messages inside the book, which is why the art was lost. A lot had tried, none had succeeded. The book interested him a lot, it was filled with images that were not significant to anyone of the Tree.

O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O

Pellimore was also having a good time at the library, trying to learn reading and writing with her friends. The owl teaching them was the one named Digger, who had been kind enough to spare some time to the young owls, mostly looking to "educate the future generation of Guardians" as he had put it.

"Look! There's Soren!" an owl whispered quietly.

A few of the owls, among the females, including Pelli, giggled as they looked over to him. Pellimore was most likely trying to blend in her new friends, as most new people would do. The others, however, were sincere, which kind of confused her, they completely lusted for Soren. His concentration was not broken, however. Their attention suddenly turned towards Ezylryb, he frightened most of the Young Owls, due to his talon. His furious glare would run through everyone, at the exception of Soren, the Band and the older owls.

"I think you have some fans, Soren" Ezylryb said, playing with Soren's mind as he usually would. It had become an occupation of his, finding it fun to trouble the lad.

His concentration was broken, mostly due to the fact that he would always listen to anything his Mentor would say. Soren thought about his friends, probably out practicing, like most other owls would at this time. The Weather Chaw would usually come back early, explaining Ezylryb's presence. Pelli and the others were not assigned to a Chaw yet, while Digger was taking a break from field work.

"Kind of annoying..." Soren said, with a small laughter to his Mentor.

"That's life, lad! You live, you love, you die" he said with a quick smirk, it was life as a perfect owl would picture it, but no such person existed. Ezylryb returned to his book on that note, exempting Soren from hearing that part.

It is impossible to reach perfection, you can get close, even to the point of grabbing it, but it will never be yours to keep. No-one will ever reach perfection as a global attribute. That is a prediction that our ancestors knew and lived through.

Pelli got up, disrupting Digger's teaching himself did not really bother as his reading class was not obliged, but suggested to owls new to the Great Tree. She marched towards where Soren was, intending to get lessons from him.

She saw Ezylryb wink to Soren and both let out a quick smirk that did not escape Pelli's glare "There is a meeting I need to attend, Soren. Please continue without me" he said.

_What? _Soren thought, apparently chocked about Ezylryb's sudden leave. Perhaps he was counting on him to scare all the females away, we will never know. Although, his leave did bring more attention to Soren, not only from Pelli herself, but from the others also.

"What are you reading Soren?" she asked as she reached him.

"An old book I found, filled with images and encrypted sayings" he replied quickly, not thinking about anything he was saying, but rather concentrating on Pellimore herself.

"Sounds interesting... Are you attempting to break the code?" she said with a great deal of knowledge, one that Soren did not think to be possible in an owl new to the Great Tree.

"Of course. Although, many have tried, but none have succeeded" he said , looking down at his book, perhaps to avoid Pellimore's blazing glare, the one that would not leave their target.

"Perhaps you will be the first" she said and moved around Soren to have a better look at the images lying on the pages. "Could you possibly teach me how to read, and write?"

"That is for Digger to teach you, I shall not take his place" he said, looking towards Digger, at the other end of the room. He was still attempting to teach the younger owls, but they seemed to lack of concentration, he would probably end the lesson soon. "I have a parliament meeting to attend to" he added and got up, grabbed his book, taking his leave towards the Parliament in all its glory, leaving Pelli at the table.

_Perhaps I will be in the same chaw as him... _she thought to herself, secretly hoping it to go as she would enjoy it. That would mean entering the Colliering Chaw or the Weather Chaw. It could be both too, but she strongly doubted that she would be good enough to be double chaw'd. She could hardly imagine being recruited in the Chaw of Chaws, the elite, of the elite, of the elite.

"Pelli! What did he say?" she heard as Ayanna came running to her side.

"Not too much, he was just reading an encrypted book" Pelli replied with a quick sigh, obviously disappointed at the conversation she had had with Soren.

"Where did he go?" her friend said.

"He had a parliament meeting, apparently." she responded, taking Soren's lie for reality.

Ayanna nodded and walked back to Digger, whom was still teaching the owls, despite their lack of motivation.

_Glaux.. I will get Chaw'd soon, please bring me luck and let me enter the Colliering Chaw! But not the Weather Chaw, Ezylryb scares everyone, he does not look like a proper teacher_ She prayed to her god, a common way of reassuring an owl on something that stressed or made them nervous greatly.

In fact, they would be assigned to their respectful chaws tomorrow night. That would stress a lot of young owls. Therefor, Soren had been assigned to give a welcoming speech to the future Guardians. That would probably make them feel at home and convince them that the chaw that they had picked for them was the right one.

A parliament meeting was about to take place, the one that takes place every so often, depending on how much un-chaw'd owls the tree has. The ones attending would be; Boron and Barane, Ezylryb, Soren, Digger, Gylfie, Otulissa, Twilight, Elvyanryb, Bubo and few others that the King had invited.

No-one would truly know in what chaw an owl would be placed in, they would all deliver information about the owls and gather some from the others. After a smooth discussion, a decision would be made and the owl would be placed in the decided chaw.

**Hope you guys like it up until now, I'm doing my best but there is not a lot to work with in the book. Except that normal "dates" between Pelli and Soren were usually reading lessons! I find it quite odd, but understandable, considering the fact that Soren was always at the Library, with his Mentor, Ezylryb. Next Chapter will probably include the Parliament meeting (A short part) and some discussion between Pelli and Soren about Ezylryb.**

**Golden**


	5. Discussion

**Chapter 4: Discussion**

Soren was sitting in the numerous spots that the Parliament held, the others holding; Boron and Barane, Ezylryb, Bubo, Elvyanryb, Gylfie, Digger, Twillight, Bendro and few others. They were all here to discuss the Chaws, and at the same time, where the owlets would be Chaw'd. This is where it would be decided as there would not be another meeting for some time, at least until the Harvest Festival. They would start in Alphabetical order.

Boron yelled out to the others "We shall start" the silence returned as they heard the mighty king's voice "First to be Chaw'd shall be Ayanna, who shall speak first?" he finished.

Ezylryb got up and smirked towards Soren "I shall, My King" Soren knew what was coming up, he was probably going to talk about her being distracted by Soren and other owls, such as her friends "I have recently noticed that the one named Ayanna was in the "Soren Fan-Club", and perhaps it's leader" he finished.

"Do we even have such a thing?" Gylfie exclaimed, apparently find it funny as she was giggling as hard as she had ever done, and that was saying something.

" I guess we do!" Both Digger and Twillight laughed quite a bit here, they had apparently seen it coming but had been too amused to tell Soren about it.

Soren himself did not move, except for a quick smirk, responding to his Mentor's, which was only considerable respect (A crucial value to have at the great tree). He just stayed there, not moving nor giggling as the others were, he did really find that funny, although it annoyed him, so that kind of compensated for his present humor.

The parliament meeting continued for a while until Boron and Baran reached the last owlets to be placed among the chaws, the favorite one among the owlets was apparently the Colliering chaw, a lot of them wanted in, perhaps to catch coals, perhaps to meet Soren.

***Meeting's Ending***

Ayanna had been appointed to the Navigation Chaw, to her demise, she too was one of the numerous owlets that wanted in the Colliering Chaw, she would probably be mad, or sad, when the results would be revealed to the owls later today. A promising young lad named Ethian had been placed within the Search and Rescue chaw, the rybs expected a great deal from him, as he was one of the most talented recruits that had arrived from the great forest fire of Ambala.

Pellimore would also be disappointed as she wanted in the Colliering Chaw, also. The rybs had determined that she would be better off in the Weather Interpretation Chaw, with Ezylryb as her Ryb, just as she did not want. The old warrior would creep out most of the young lads, until they would get to meet him, of course, they would then consider him the greatest ryb of the time, and possibly of history, as Soren already did.

The owls would soon wake up and receive their respectful items, the one which would represent the Chaw they had been appointed to, Pelli would wake up with whatever the item was for Weather Interpretation, they were usually crazy objects, they could change with a Ryb change, as he would be the one to decide what it would be.

***At the Library***

Soren was sitting at the library, his wing would be all healed up tomorrow morning, his eye scar, reflecting his experience as usual, gift of Pellimore. He was, again, reading that book about Secret Fighting Arts, he had not pierced the code yet, it interested him more then ever. Yet, he could not figure it out with all the multiple distractions that hit him. Pelli walked up to him.

"I was appointed to the Weather Chaw" she told him.

Soren looked up from his book "That's great!" he exclaimed. He already knew in what Chaw he was but he did not want to ruin her fun, as saying a simple 'I know' would probably be a joy kill. She did not look as happy as Soren thought she would be.

"We can hardly call it a class with **that** ryb" she said, Soren quickly turned his head towards Ezylryb's desk, it was empty, it seemed that Pelli had thought thinks through this time, and brilliantly too.

"You should not say that of Ezylryb, is could be the greatest ryb of all time in my opinion" he started thinking through all the moments he spent with his master, and how most students disliked him due to his talon and odd ways.

"But how can he be a good ryb with a torn off talon?" taking that Ezylryb would be crippled from that talon, it was quite the contrary, his handicap encouraged him to do better then the others.

"You know Pelli, Ezylryb went through a lot in his life" he started going through his memory looking for the most amazing things that Ezylryb had done in his glorious life "He participated in the Battle of the Ice Claws, loosing his mate in the process, that led him here, to the Great Tree, then, he became ryb and First War Consultant, which means that he will be the main leader in times of war, although he will never participate in the combats himself" he finished.

"Why would he not participate? Was he scared" she replied, kind of confused that a Ryb could be so scared of fighting... Or so she thought...

"Ezylryb has been through so much that he does not want to see any kind of injury or death to his loved ones, could you even imagine loosing your mate, Pelli?" This time around, Soren snapped at her, he could not stand that one would insult his mentor, he who has been through so much in his life. Beared impossible amounts of pain and more ridiculous things. He calmed down, seeing her eyes widened and her being kind of frightened "Sorry... But you'll get used to him, he's really fun to have around in missions, it would not be the same without him" he finished.

They both agreed to change subjects and pursue the lesson, as Soren had accepted to teach Pelli how to write and read. That would be beneficial to both Soren and Pelli, he would learn how to teach, to one day become ryb if the occasion was to present itself, he would also have time to read the Secret Fighting Arts Book. She, would learn language, vocabulary, writing, reading and multiple other things.

"What books are you mostly into Soren?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the pages of the one she was holding.

"I've always loved legends, my mother knew most of them by heart" he said, remembering how he had lost his own mother to his brother, Kludd, along to his followers. Although, if that had not happened, he would probably not be here right now, he would have never met Digger, Gylfie, Twilight, Pelli, Ezylryb, even Otulissa.

"I love them too! I used to think that the Guardians of Ga'Hoole were nothing but mere legend. Now I know, that they're real, as I'm standing in front of one right now" she said with a charming smirk towards Soren, an obvious attempt at trying to get him to lust that smile.

He gave her a warm smile, trying to return the happiness to her "This will conclude today's Lesson, Pelli" he said.

"Since your wing will be healed tomorrow, will you fly with the Chaw?" she asked.

"Depending on the muscle loss I will have suffered, so I might" he said with a smirk her way.

"I am hoping to learn great things from you" she quickly responded.

"I shall do my best, you will be present at tomorrow's class, yes?"

"Indeed, what will we do? I was looking forward to an adventure" she said, looking towards the nearby window, to look at the sky and feel the wind of tomorrow's lesson, her first one to be precise. The first stays in your memory for ever, which is important since it influences how you will like the class.

"We shall soar through the storm" he said with a huge smile, Soren had been through much worst, but Pelli was a little worried about flying in a storm, as the worst she had been through was weak rain, which is a large difference.

"What? A Storm? On the first class?" she said, obviously panicking from the danger a storm would represent to her and fellow classmates.

"Don't worry, it's my favorite thing to do around here, trust your Gizzard and everything will be fine, me and Ezylryb will be there to supervise" he said, imitating what his Mentor had told him the day he had flown into a storm for the first time.

That did not seem to calm her down, but the mention of Soren's name did, it actually relieved her more then anything could have "Alright, I trust you Soren" she said with a quick sigh and taking her leave towards the dinning hall.

_She has a promising Attitude _he thought, after watching Pelli leave the Library.

_Perhaps she actually will make a fine student. _Soren resumed the reading of his book, the one he had been reading for the past week, he was not hungry as he had not exercised much lately. He had only been talking to his friends and reading books. Perhaps, he will go meet them again.

**Next chapter will probably feature a meeting with Soren's Friends, while Pelli is present, of course. Along with a part of the class that will mark Pelli for ever, as she will fly through a storm.**

**Golden**


	6. Storm

**Chapter 5: Storm**

Pellimore was walking in the Great Tree, sometimes in areas that she was not supposed to go to, but it being day time, she probably would not get caught, or punished. She had been thinking about the storm that the Weather Interpretation Chaw was supposed to fly into. Even though Soren would be there, she couldn't help worrying. He could not be helping multiple owls at once. But that was not the end of her worries, as she still had Soren to worry about, what could guarantee that his experience would suffice in this storm? Mistakes are always possible; Soren could always execute a bad move and fall to his doom. Accidents happen, there is always a possible threat to the lives of the young owlets, that is not a change to the Guardian Training.

What if she got lost within the thick dark clouds? Would anyone come to her rescue?

_Of course they would… Stupid question. _Pelli thought to herself.

She still thought that flying through a storm on the first class was a little extreme, even for the great tree. Don't classes start with theoretical lessons? Won't there be a higher risk of serious injuries? Risk, was always an enemy, an unavoidable one, yes, but a permanent one, which made it ruthless and hard to escape.

_There always is risk… Why would it change now?_ She asked herself, yet again.

She gracefully flew upwards, looking up to the burning sun and great white clouds, there was no danger of crows during the day if you were at the Great Tree. She stalled for some time, appreciating the moment which granted her peace and quiet, which had been missing for some time in her mind. She looked around, nothing to be seen except the tree trunks in which numerous owls and owlets were currently sleeping in.

Then, she shifted her attention to a strange figure to the top of the tree, an owl apparently. She quietly approached the silhouette, being sure to not make a sound. As she got closer, she noticed that the figure's eyes were closed, which kind of startled her, most owls that came up here would appreciate the view, not meditate.

"Hello there, Pelli" it said, turning around and opening its eyes. She had not realised it, but the figure was Soren, to her surprise. She felt a warm breeze hit her feathers, bringing calm to her.

"Soren! What… What are you doing here?" She asked, turning her head sideways, looking for other owls nearby, and expecting a reunion of some sort as she had never saw her friend on the very top of the Great Tree before.

"Well, I find this place quite relaxing, and I did not feel like sleeping today" he answered quietly, trying to calm Pelli with his low, soft voice.

"Does it have something to do with today's class, and with the storm?" She asked, hoping that Soren would feel as she does; being scared of venturing into such a storm.

Pelli then turned to look at the world, where you could not see anything but the ocean, the reflection of the sun on the water brought a wave effect to the horizon, which was starting to turn pink and orange due to the sun setting. Both seemed too astonished to say anything, the beauty of the Sunset was just stunning whilst the colors, simply prodigious. The others would most likely wake up in a few short hours, which left them plenty of time to talk over different topics, and most importantly, the upcoming class, which seemed to terrify Pelli more than seeing an Army of Pure Ones attacking.

"In theory, but I mostly just want to feel a storm again, it has been far too long since I have flown in one" He said, while looking at the approaching dark, menacing clouds, those of which Pelli was so afraid of, whilst he almost smirked at the clouds, taking it as a challenge, and acknowledging it.

Pelli gasped at Soren's courage "How can you be looking **forward** to it? Are you not scared?" she quickly pronounced.

"I've been through a lot worst then this, you know" he replied, with his usual calm voice.

"Yes but, can't someone die?"

"I highly doubt it, the Weather team mentioned a very small storm, and you go down with Ezylryb as your watcher, even if all the owls were to fall, he'd probably manage to save all of them" Soren said, trying to get Pelli to give Ezylryb a chance, as she was only judging him on what he didn't do, while she should be judging what he did, which makes him a far better ryb to any of the students that seem frightened by the old owl.

"I wish I could be as calm as you are…" Soren then turned his head to look at Pellimore, startling her a little.

"It comes with experience, considering that there is nothing we can do but do our best, I manage to calm myself with one simple sentence; "Whatever happens, happens"" He explained, trying to calm Pelli once more, as the storm would probably only be a minor one, unless the Weather team had made a critical mistake, or had simply failed to note something during their flying excursions that they would occasionally organise each time a storm would be coming close to the Great tree. Other reasons seemed impossible; one being that the Storm could change drastically once arrived.

"The others will wake up soon, you better get going, Pelli. It's been fun talking to you" Soren said after looking at the sun, yet again.

She glared at him for a moment, and then took off to her tree trunk, where she would await the start of the storm, and the start of the class.

**-Class Start-**

The students had gathered, ready for take-off, in front of Ezylryb, Pelli was in the back as she was among the oldest to be taking the Weather Interpretation class and could easily see above the other's heads. Soren was standing to the side of Ezylryb as he was the aid to the group, as there always was. His job basically consisted of making sure no owls got hurt during this simple, yet quite dangerous training mission.

"Now lads, do not over react to this storm, yes it is a little worse than we expected, but I have no doubt that we can go through anyways" Ezylryb said, trying to inspire everyone. The Weather Interpreters had recently announced that it would be a violent storm, but could still be ventured into, to one's own risk. Lyze and Soren had met to decide whether to go or not. The decision was obvious to them, a storm might not come until a few weeks from now, and they could not waste that opportunity to train the owlets.

There was quite a lot of panic in the crew; most of them had never even tried to fly into a storm. Yet, everyone kept quiet, probably due to extreme fear, or panic. Ezylryb started to yell out the positions to everyone on the squad. Meanwhile, Soren's and Pelli's eyes were locked; both kept fixating each other, in fear of losing one another. The glare broke when Ezylryb yelled out Soren's name "Soren, to the back!" He was appointed to the back so he could spot any owls flying, Ezylryb would not spot them all, as he would need to stay concentrated on the storm. Pelli, on her side, had been appointed to Far left wing, which is basically as far as you get from the formation on the left side.

"We're off!" Ezylryb said as he spread his wings.

The whole squad flew out of the tree, not looking back, only seeing the upcoming chaos that would be the storm. Soren's position implied that he had to move a lot among the owls, to see if they were alright, or if they needed to stop, all said that they were fine, bent on their determination to become a Guardian of Ga' Hoole that achievement for which most owls here will eventually reach, and bond with the seal, which unites the Guardians to the world, and to the Great Ga' Hoole Tree.

Soren noticed that Ezylryb was flying oddly, with his head on the side, he managed to see his beak moving, he then concluded that his mentor was doing as he had done for him, taking his mind of the mission, and talking to him, sometimes making him laugh.

He then heard him yell "The storm is near! Brace yourselves, lads!"

Soren immediately returned to his position, ready to catch any falling owls.

He took a look to the front, at the storm. It seemed a lot more violent than expected, perhaps even containing thunder and lightning within, which was not good to fly with. He wanted to reach Ezylryb, maybe call off the mission, but he knew that Lyze would never back down from a mission, and he would always be successful too.

He was hearing wind whistle near him, lightning strikes to the far back of the storm, to top it off, weak gusts of wind came to disrupt everyone's balance from time to time, as they already needed to stay balanced to the huge gusts, the small ones only made things worse, as they came from a different direction, and angle from the bigger ones, not good.

They entered the storm, to his surprise, none of the owlets seemed to panic, or go down. He deemed it safe to go to the front of the formation and help Ezylryb entertain the young ones, as he had always done on first missions, to help making the owls feel at home in storms. That simple move would get them interested in storms.

"So… Not too bad, aren't they?" Soren asked Ezylryb.

"I know, lad, though I think we'll skip the wall for today" he responded.

Soren nodded "Shall we head back to the Great Tree?" he asked.

"There was some place on my mind right now… Somewhere where teaching is easy" He said, obviously talking about the Spirit Woods, where the young owlets were always terrified to go to.

"Spirit Woods it is" Soren said, acknowledging his mentor's statement.


	7. Courage

**Chapter 6: Courage**

Soren and his students were in one of the largest hollow in the Spirit Woods, Ezylryb had left to tell the King of where the squad had settled, if he did not do so, they might assume that they disappeared. (Ezylryb went himself to permit Soren to teach the owlets) The owls were not truly happy about going to the Spirit Woods, as it was quite dangerous in their perspectives, they were afraid of "Ghosts". Soren himself knew the secrets hidden in the Spirit Woods. They would have to stay the whole day in the woods, until Ezylryb came back. The temporary squad leader now had to deal with calming the students, as well as guaranteeing their safety, for a considerably long while.

Pelli, on her side, was in a corner, either talking, or trying to keep her mind of the area they were in. She had found quite a few friends in the squad; a few of them were friends of Ayanna, which implied that they were also fans of Soren.

"We will be taking turns, among the oldest, to keep watch" Soren said, meaning Pellimore would also be on guard duty for a short while "I will start, and have another shift later, thus take the longest shift, each one of you will be on guard for an hour, only" He finished, addressing the old this time.

The owls started getting ready to sleep, when Pelli approached Soren "Soren, I heard a rumour about Pure Ones forces in the area... Be careful." She said.

"No need to worry Pelli, I'll be fine" Soren responded, taking note of Pelli's worry, as it was entirely possible for the Pure Ones to be patrolling the sea surrounding the Great Ga' Hoole Tree. Also, they had passes from crows, making it even more plausible.

Soren's first shift went without problem, aside from a few random owls flying from tree to tree, perfectly calm.

Then came Pelli's turn, which came without any major events. She did think of waking up Soren from time to time, mostly to have some company, and someone to talk to while her turn came to an end. Most of the time, she would just stare at the thick, white clouds, wishing to go ahead and fly, perhaps even sleep. But she was stuck on the ground, guarding a hollow. Although her job was important, she wished she could be having some fun.

* * *

**Soren's Second Shift**

Soren was waiting outside the trunk, investigating the storm's aftermath, which did not seem too bad at all, compared to other storms he had seen. Ezylryb was not meant to arrive for a few hours still. His last shift would last 2 hours, followed by another shift, then the arrival of their prodigious ryb. Soren thought about what Pelli had said earlier, about the Pure Ones. He concluded that the arrival of Pure Ones at their location was entirely possible, as they had started to venture into the Spirit Woods just recently. Also, the hollow they were in was probably one of the largest ones in the woods, which increased the probabilities. He stayed on his guards whilst he kept a watchful eye on the sky.

Suddenly, he heard an owl talking in a nearby tree. He took a quick peak to realise of Pure One presence. That alone was enough for him to stand up and start waking the owlets. Which he did with a quick "Shh!" upon waking them, just so that they knew something was going on and were ready to leave the trunk at any moment. The moment Pelli woke up, she let out a yawn, loud enough to have been heard by a Barn Owl, if the Pure One Squad was bound to have.

Soren, utilising his superior hearing abilities, detected a low "Shhh, I heard something coming from that tree over there" followed by wing flapping, meaning that the squad would be reaching them shortly.

He knew what he had to do, the only way to distract the attackers, would be to dash out of the trunk and to attract them towards him, while an older owl, perhaps Pelli, would lead the others to The Great Tree. The only thing he dared hope, was that the squad was not too numerous.

He moved to Pelli "Take them to the Great Tree" He simply said.

"Soren, what are you going to do? And why me?" she asked as she did not have a lot of experience with leading squads.

He did not answer, only winked to Pelli, including a smile to make her understand his confidence, making her understand his intentions. "No, you are not fighting them alone!".

"I am, and I will… It is the right thing to do" he said, trying to make as much sense as possible, as it truly was the right thing to do.

Pelli nodded, obviously disgusted by Soren's decision, but charmed by his courage.

The squad leader stretched his wings, and dashed towards the incoming owls, with a fierce mind. "Okay, everyone follow me, no matter what happens, get to the Great Tree" she said. Most the owls seemed to find it a little unfair to leave Soren alone. "Come on, you all know that it is the right thing to do!" she responded to their blunt faces.

The owls all left towards the Great Tree, but as soon as they left the trunk, a Pure One found his way towards them, after receiving a harsh blow from Soren, he had been directed to them.

Pelli knew that Soren had his hands full with five Pure Ones, from a Squad of six. This implied that she would need to defeat this one alone, while the others kept flying. She gave a look to the second oldest owl, whom nodded, and dispatched from the formation.

**- Soren -**

… Soren dashed out from the trunk. He was soon confronted by a large amount of Pure Ones, at least six of them; none of them had Battle Claws, which was a good thing for Soren. All of them seemed surprised to see an owl defiantly attack them "He must be a Guardian! Kill him!" he heard one yelling.

"Wait! That's Soren! Nyra wants him dead!" He heard another yell, apparently recognizing him, probably by his heart-shaped face.

"Be careful! He is very dangerous!" And another yell.

He took a slash at one's wing, making him flinch from the pain, incapacitating him for a short while. He backed away a little, followed by a deep dive in the forest. He was obviously a lot more skilled then the Pure Ones. One of them managed to flank him, slamming both of them to a tree. Soren was stunned, perhaps even had a head injury, but dealt an amazingly deep gash to that very owl, as he was coming from a side. He ascended quickly, to the sky where he could deal more damage. He saw an owl dashing at him, which he retaliated with a dash of his own, scaring the enemy, whom lowered his claws. Soren took that opportunity and smashed in the owl. He saw him diving a little, and then leaving in another direction.

Soren was speechless, that owl was leaving towards the leaving owlets, but he could not do anything about it since he still had quite a few of Pure Ones to fend off.

_Hopefully, Pelli makes the right decision _He thought to himself.

That single moment of inattention, caused him a deep wound on his left side, which was not enough to incapacitate him, but enough to cause some serious damage to him, if not healed sooner. He screeched in pain, whilst another attacker was about to ram into him, he managed to dodge it, with the help of a swift wing flap. The enemy turned around, ready for another go at Soren, whom dived once again, most of the Pure Ones had fled by now, among the ones that had received major cuts and gashes, 2 of them remained.

He took a swift right, trying to shake off a pursuer, which he did. He made his way behind the owl, who seemingly was wondering where his prey had hid itself. Soren slammed onto him and started slashing at his back ruthlessly.

The owl started gliding to the ground, as one of his wings was obviously stuck, as he couldn't move it.

Soren backed away, searching for the last owl. If he had not decided to go warn Nyra about this, he would still be around, otherwise, they would need to leave quickly. He kept circling around, trying to spot the owl, which he did. It had been hiding among leaves, preparing for an ambush at a wounded Soren. He dashed at the enemy, catching him off guards as he was looking the other way, where an ambush would have been easier to execute. Soren knew of the easiest way to incapacitate, or kill an enemy, one of these ways consisted of slashing at a very sensible bone in the back of the wing. As he had the advantage of surprise, he managed to hit the owl where he desired, which was on that specific bone.

The enemy owl let out a amazingly loud screech and started panicking as he could not move his wing anymore, and was falling to the ground with tremendous speed. Soren backed away to look at the squad, flying away while Pelli was still fighting the other owl. He gasped as the owl slashed at her, but she managed to dodge it.

_No worries, Pelli. _He thought to himself.

**- Pellimore -**

Pelli was still fighting the owl that had dispatched himself from the others. She looked over to Soren whom appeared to have spotted an owl as he was diving towards a tree. There was a silence, then a loud screech coming from the trees.

_C-Could it be Soren's screech? _She thought, worrying.

She then saw Soren fly out of the woods with a painful smirk _Hopefully, he is not too wounded _She thought.

She panicked a little as the owl surprised her with a left slash, but managed to dodge it nonetheless. Soren started flying quickly, but painfully towards her. Eventually, Pelli made a fatal mistake, she dodged, but ended up behind the owl, which turned around quickly and attempted to slash at her back, which was now completely exposed.

_SLAM!_

As the claw was a few centimeters from her back, she heard a loud noise, as if two owls as clashed into each other with great speed. She looked behind her to see that Soren had smashed into their common enemy, and was having an amazing claw fight with him. Pelli let out a loud gasp as the enemy managed to lay down a slash to Soren, who quickly replied with a slash of his own, dealing a deep gash to the owl's stomach. He stayed in a stationary flight for a moment, before groaning a little, and falling to the ground slowly. Both of them knew that the fight was over; they had won against a squad of six Pure Ones. That was quite an accomplishment, even for Soren, who had fought off five of them to himself.

Both Soren and Pelli made their way to the hollow they were first in.

"Ar-Are you alright Pelli?" he asked, trying to reach for breath as he had been well injured and was exhausted from the battle.

"I'm fine, but it does not look like you are Soren…" She said, starting to Panic a little.

"I will survive, Ezylryb is meant to arrive in a few minutes anyways, and I might need some help getting to the Great Tree" he said, calmly, taking some breath back.

She nodded and continued "How could you be so… Reckless?" Pelli said whilst Soren was sitting up.

"It was my duty, it could not be helped" he responded, with a small smile to Pelli.

_He will get himself killed if he keeps doing that… _She thought, worrying about what could have happened if the Squad of Pure Ones had been more experienced.

She returned the smile as they both waited for Ezylryb to finally arrive. She looked up in amazement _I wonder how he managed to beat five Pure Ones to himself… Is it something that I will learn? _She thought, rather flattered by his sheer strength, talent and determination.

They heard a screech, obviously from Ezylryb as it could only be him to have such a voice. Pelli flew out of the hollow and signalled him to make his way where Soren was.

"I met the other owls on my way back here… What happened, lad?" He asked as he entered the trunk.

Soren simply lowered his head whilst Pelli did the speaking "We were attacked by Pure Ones, sir, and Soren fought off them off, injuring himself in the process, he needs medical attention" she said, getting a little panicked to Ezylryb's inactivity.

"I can see that…" said Ezylryb, while examining Soren's deep gashes and cuts "I will need your help to get him to the Tree, Pellimore" he finished.

Pelli nodded and made her way to Soren, whom she will support in getting to the Great Tree, where he will get medical attention.

**Sounds like Soren's in trouble… Do you have a question, an idea or a request? Either PM me or leave a review.**

**-Golden**


	8. Light

**AN: Okay, I know it's been a while guys, but I've been extremely busy… Girlfriend, friends, social, school, exams and the finals are coming up soon! Wish me luck! Anyways, here we are with another chapter of Blazing Love! Hopefully, Soren gets better soon.**

**Chapter 7: Light**

Sitting in her hollow, Pellimore was admiring the beautiful sunset. Orange and pink colors filled her eyesight as it reflected from the sea water under the tree. She was thinking over the events of their last trip with Soren. They had been attacked by Pure Ones and he had annihilated most of them, but gotten a deep wound in the process. He was now still in the process of healing but the healers had mentioned that he should be able to leave today, and so Pelli was waiting for him to arrive.

She heard someone descending the steps that led to her hollow and turned to look. No, it was not Soren, but Gylfie "Pelli you are wanted by Soren to the Parliament meeting today" She said.

"Okay, thank you for warning me Gylfie" She was nervous, was Soren mad at her for attacking the owl? Had she done something wrong?

Seeing that Pelli was a little stressed, Gylfie whispered some tactful words to her "Don't worry, it's nothing bad" She said and winked at her.

That comforted her a lot, but made her nervous at the same time, what had she done to be invited to a meeting of such importance? She got up and followed Gylfie out of her hollow, then walking down the hallways that led to the central parliament.

It was still the huge, magnificent room as it had always been, low candles coming down from the ceiling and a huge desk for the parliament members to sit at. There was a podium in the center that she was expected to stand on. To her surprise, she saw Soren in the Weather Ryb's spot, which was usually occupied by Ezylryb. She standed there and waited nervously on the members to start talking. Soren gave her a loving smile which made her calm down a lot. He turned to Boron and Barrane which were whispering quiet things in private, perhaps thinking of a work around to something the parliament had decided.

It was Boron who initiated the meeting "We stand here today to discuss the latest events that occurred while the weather chaw was on a trip to enter a storm, who shall speak first?" he said.

"I will" Soren said while getting up from his position. Pelli saw a huge bandage on the area where his gash would have been and wondered if it still hurt him a lot.

"In the Spirit Woods, 3 days ago, we were ambushed by a small pack of Pure Ones. I took on most of them, but one slipped away from me and meant to attack the young owlets we had with us. Being the oldest one in the pack, I expected Pelli to charge back at the owl, and she did just that, which makes us all very proud of you Pelli" Soren said slowly and smiled at her.

Pelli nodded and let him continue his speech _He doesn't mention that I lost to that owl and if not for him, I would not be alive_ she told herself, thinking about how brave he had been.

"Assuming the command of Ezylryb while he is away on a mission in the Northern Kingdoms, I would like to transfer you to the Search and Rescue chaw, it is obvious that you are born to save others, not interpret the weather in this chaw." He announced her.

She was surprised at first, not sure how to react. It was good as she knew it was the right chaw for her, but it would also mean being away from Soren. And so, she stood there, saying nothing as the parliament members had expected her to do.

"Welcome to the Club!" She heard Twilight yell in the background, which led to many parliament members, including Soren to burst out laughing.

"Okay enough serious talk, dismissed" Boron said whilst smiling to the others.

Soren came down from the steps that led to the parliament desks. She came running towards him. "I… I… Thank you" was all she could say to what Soren had done for her.

He smiled back "Being a Guardian of Ga'Hoole is about saving innocents and protecting the weak. You did just that Pelli, I'm proud of you." He said.

"But you still saved the day in the end; you defeated so many Pure Ones on your own!" she exclaimed.

"That is true, but I simply did my duty, it's what I'm here to do" He answered.

Pelli smiled inside, why did Soren never want to take credit for what he did? He was a hero today, people had to know that. She would start spreading the news of his success as soon as she was out of here. "Sometimes, I wish you would accept the fact that you saved me countless times" She said and laughed.

He smiled back "Again, it's my duty, I don't expect anything back from my work, just that owls live" He said.

She smiled at him. How could someone be so modest? He saved every single living owl in this tree a million times, and yet he doesn't brag or abuse his person. He could have every single girl in the school following him around wherever he goes, but he decides to sit around at the library and read. She was quite impressed with him. The perfect one.

She did not know what to think of him becoming the weather ryb while Ezylryb was away "Why is Ezylryb away?" She had to ask.

"That is something that may only be discussed among parliament members, a very important and dangerous mission is all I can say" He answered back.

"Okay" she said a little disappointed.

"Would you like to fly with me?" He asked.

Taken off guard and completely unaware, Pelli could only muster out a few words "I… Uhh… Yes"

And so they took off, flying above the great blue sea which erupted with orange and pink light reflections from the current sunset. This was like a dream come true to Pelli, a romantic flight with the owl of her dreams. She only worried that Ayanna and the other girls that had joined the Soren fan-club would be jealous of her and start gossiping about them.

***Ayanna***

Her worries were justified as not a hundred meters away; Ayanna was watching them, eyes wide with jealousy. She took off immediately and woke her friends in their hollow. It was one of the smaller hollows as they were quite low ranking pupils, and yet they fit around seven owls in it.

"I just saw Pellimore flying around with Soren" She said, almost yelling out of rage and frustration.

"That's very good for her!" an owl yelled happily and smiled.

"But not for us! Don't you get it? If she gets to him, he's done, she's one of them" Ayanna exclaimed, while the others gasped in disbelief.

"So that's how she survived that attack…" Another started saying.

"Yes, she was never in true danger during the attack, Soren was, but being the great fighter that he is, he defeated all the Pure Ones whilst Pelli pretended to be in danger to get closer to him later on" Ayanna yelled out, walking in a circle now.

"My friends, Pellimore is a pure one."

**AN: OH SHEET! What will happen next? I wonder myself. (Not really ) Anyways, PM/review if you have any suggestions/requests/any other things to ask me. I'm sorry that I've been away for such a long time, just wrote this chapter in around an hour and I hope I can get a few more out during this 4 day weekend which I have a surprisingly low amount of homework. See you all then! :D**


	9. Steel

**AN: IT'S SUMMER VACATION TIME WOOOOO! I'm so happy that these damned exams are finally over. For those who care, they went very well and I'm quite happy with the results (Above 90% in everything) so yeah, here I am. I'll be writing a lot more than I used to… Get ready!**

Chapter 8: Steel

Soren was walking to the cafeteria, thinking over the events of the past day. Why had he asked Pelli to fly with him? Despite the obvious lack of company that he had suffered while injured, he saw no logical reason on why he asked it. It troubled him truly, there was a weird feeling coming from his gizzard. He thought that he had mastered the feelings but this new one was… Different. He did not know what to make if it and decided to put it away for now.

He finally arrived at his destination and saw that the band members were scattered in the room, on different tables and chairs as the table reserved for the parliament members was gone. He proceeded to sit at a table filled with rookies and a particularly amused Twilight. He seemed to be teaching some things to the other owls.

"Yeah you just block with a low strike, offence is defence, you know?" Twilight said, and then turned to Soren, looking at him with expectant eyes "And here is the man of the hour! Welcome to our humble table, Soren!" He said getting up and pulling the chair for him to sit on.

Some of the other owls at the table looked at him, their gazes steady and watchful "Hey everyone" is all that Soren could say without looking like a fool, he was kind of intimidated by those eyes.

Those made Twilight laugh a little and sit down for himself "How about you tell us a story Soren?" He asked and smiled to the amazed gazes of the owls.

And so he did, he told them of the time that he escaped from the St-Aggies Orphanage with Gylfie and everything, going really deep in the story's details.

Soon, all the owls, including Twilight, had left to their hollows, leaving Soren to eat alone as he had not had time to eat due to his storytelling. He looked around and saw Pelli coming towards him from the far end of the cafeteria, that brought a smile to his lips and he kept on eating.

Suddenly, the table was full again. Full with members of the Soren fan club, including the infamous Ayanna. He looked around to try and find Pelli's gaze, but she was already gone. He groaned and looked at the girls who were all laughing hysterically. He meant to get up, but two pairs of wings made him sit back down. He looked up to his shoulders and saw two of Ayanna's henchwomen smiling awkwardly at him. He could have easily gotten up and outmatched their strength, but he did not want to risk offending the girls.

_How did I get myself in this mess?_ He asked himself.

"Hey girls, what are you all up to?" was the only thing he thought of saying.

They finally quiet down and Ayanna spoke up "Oh, well we just felt like talking with you Soren" She said and smiled flirtatiously.

"Well, what's it about?" He answered quickly, getting a little nervous.

"We think that Pellimore is not who you think she is" They started saying, and immediately caught Soren's attention "We think she might be the enemy"

His laugh was true and instantaneous, what an absurd idea! "And where does this weird idea come from?" Soren said, still chuckling at that.

Ayanna started whispering "Don't you see? Why do you think she escaped the Pure One attack unharmed?"

"Girls, I've seen Pelli fight off an owl that had escaped my vigilance, and the enemy regretted it badly" He made it sound like she had been the hero, even though he had saved her at the last second. Everything to remove this weird idea from these girls' minds.

"Who's to say she wasn't in league with the owl?" She said, acting and seeming clever.

"Who's to say she was?" Soren added, gazing straight towards Ayanna.

That quick answer seemed to misbalance her a little. She fumbled for words but eventually just lowered her head. Soren subdued the girls who were pushing him down and said, "I don't want to hear any more, this is not worth my time" and left towards the cafeteria exit.

He tried to spot Pelli, and perhaps warn her of the incidents that just happened, but she was nowhere to be found. After some more looking, he decided to go to her hollow and perhaps find her there. So he moved through the different hallways of the great tree until he finally reached Pelli's and some other owls' hollow. He knocked and was answered by a male great grey owlet who told him very hesitantly that Pellimore was still out and should be coming back soon. Soren decided to sit on the ground and wait for her to come back, after allowing the owlet to close the door behind him.

The next morning, Soren woke up on Pelli's doorstep, but still no hints that she had come by. He thought that she would have talked to him if she would have passed. He started to worry a little.

_Nothing to panic about, she could have slept at someone else's hollow for the night_ He reasoned, but even so, it still worried him a little.

He decided to head to Twilight's hollow, ask if he'd seen her.

The great grey was not very happy about being waken at this early time, he told Soren to go back to bed and that he had not seen Pelli at all, at least since lunch time. Our favorite barn owl's worryness level started rising little by little as he asked more and more people for the location of Pellimore. No one in the great tree had seen her! Could she have run away because of Ayanna's goofing around? He dared not consider that option. The outside was a dangerous place these days, especially after that Pure One patrol had been intercepted by Soren, they had doubled, if not tripled the intensity of their searches.

He figured that he would wait until after his class for worrying, Pelli would be bound to have come back after that, as it did take a few hours.

**-Soren's Class-**

"Straighten your wing a little Ephian" he told the young owl that was complaining because he was not flying straight.

They were flying around the great tree and Soren was trying to teach them how to interpret the weather, even though it was nearly just about flying as some of the owls still had problems with it. The sun was rising slowly, bringing a nice orange reflection from the water to their own eyes. Some could only keep gazing down at the water and not at the clouds, so Soren was thinking about ending the session early.

"Stay focused everyone!" He called out in vain.

He looked up to the sky himself, and saw a few dark clouds surrounded by some fluffy white ones. This would mean some isolated rain, it could be troublesome, but it would mostly just require them to be a little careful during the next day or so. He did see that the system was a quite long one, as he did not see the end from where he was. "Form up!" He yelled out. Immediately, the others formed up in a clumsy formation that would usually be the wedge, but now looked like the defensive square. Soren gave out an amused sigh, teaching these kids wouldn't be easy, but it would be quite amusing.

"Back to the tree!" He said and moved in to land on the wood platform.

As soon as they landed, the owls thanked him for the class and left towards their own hollows, at which they would pass the night and get some rest.

Soren, on his side, started looking for Pellimore once more. He had not seen her during the whole day and it was truly worrying him now, he had even asked the search and rescue ryb where she was and received no positive answer, only that the last time anyone had seen her was at the cafeteria the day before. He decided to call a late-night parliament meeting to tend to this matter, an owlet could not be left on its own in the wild, and they needed to send search teams, or at least warn the tree of the disappearance.

As soon as the parliament members had sat down, ready to begin, Soren got up and started explaining the situation about Pelli's disappearance.

"You see, since late yesterday, Pellimore has been nowhere to be found and trust me I have searched a lot and asked the whole Ga'Hoole tree…" Soren started and explained the entire situation, leaving out but the details about his fan club and all the jealousy surrounding it.

"Your concern is understandable Soren, but we cannot risk sending more patrols then we already do, especially after you got attacked" Boron started, "We will mention her name to the Guardians of Ga'Hoole and ask of them to return if they hear of some news" and with that, the late-day meeting was dismissed, all the parliament members were meant to return to their hollows and get a good night of sleep, but not Soren.

He went to the top of the tree to think, and the more he thought about it, the more he became hesitant. He needed to find the person that Pelli was the closest to in the tree besides himself; perhaps they would know of something related to her disappearance. He thought and he thought, but he did not remember who could be very close to her, not Ayanna, she was mad at her, she probably wouldn't have told her where she was going. Not her ryb, he had already asked for information. The only possible answer was…

_CALE! The great grey from her hollow!_

**AN: I wonder where Pellimore went… Will she be back? Who knows. I do but I ain't telling. That's that. Quite weird chapter, I put it together in a few days, so it might be a little funny :P I'll be putting more stuff out soon, be ready. For now, off to a date!**


	10. Gone

**Chapter 10: Gone**

Soren had decided to go sleep. He still couldn't believe that Cale, the owl from Pelli's hollow, had lied to him in such a matter. Most of all, he had recently learned that she had left the tree in haste the night the girls had apprehended Soren at lunch. It worried him a lot, all the more when Cale told him of her intentions. She meant to go to the far woods, which was a very dangerous place since the Pure Ones had claimed it as their fortress.

He had tried to get Boron to lend him some Guardians to go look for her, but the old king had plainly refused, stating that he would never send a team in the far woods while the pure ones existed. Our barn owl was then left with no other choice than the one…

He would bring the Chaw of Chaws together once more.

There were no alternatives, it was either that or leave Pelli to die, if she had indeed been captured. He looked up towards the top of his hollow and stared at the strong wood. It wasn't a hard decision, he had to save her. _Then why do I feel so bad about doing such a thing? _He asked himself, but the answer to that question was obvious as well. He had never truly disobeyed King Boron, nor did he plan to ever do it.

He decided to go wake the Band in a few hours and inform them of what he was going to do. He would not force them to accompany him on such a dangerous mission, but he was confident that they would go of their own will. Having followed Soren in countless other adventures and always coming back safe. And yet this was not a simple adventure, it was an expedition, a rescue mission, in the heart of enemy territory. Soren feared that it would be a one-way trip for a few of them, despite their battle experience. The Pure Ones forces sent out to patrol had been restricted to very low-ranking rookies, whilst attacking their fortress meant fighting off their best warriors, and even though none of them could compare itself to any member of the Chaw of Chaws, but sheer numbers could easily overwhelm them in these circumstances. He decided to be extra careful and go requisition some new protection from the armoury and pray for the Band's safe return home.

She was flying towards the far woods, still arguing with herself about returning or not. She was sick and tired of Ayanna messing with her relationship; she just could not bear it anymore. On the other hand, there still was Soren to care for. What would he become if she simply left? Despite the way he acted, Pelli's instincts told her that he felt something in his gizzard whenever he saw her. This immediately warmed her heart and brought a smile to her beak. Still, she needed to find solace and a place to think in the far woods, as it was a very spiritual place for owls whom often came here seeking guidance in their endeavours or personal decisions.

Her not being a full-fledged Guardian yet, she had no idea that she was heading straight towards the Pure Ones' fortress. She was simply going to the far woods because it was her birthplace, and she needed time to think. Where else could she do such a thing if not home? _My home is the Great Ga'Hoole Tree now… _She thought and let out a sigh, observing the small trees below her. Every now and then she could also spot some animals called 'Squirrels' jumping from one tree to another in a quite athletic fashion.

The clear blue sky above seemed to try to talk to her. Behind her, there were dark clouds, whilst in front, nothing but blue. It was as if Glaux himself wanted her to keep going, like it was her destiny.

On the horizon, she started to spot the tall trees of the far woods; they were clearly taller than any other trees in the world, aside from the Great Ga'Hoole Tree of course. Strong trunks and favorable weather conditions made these trees last almost five times the lifespan of Owls, which is why there were so many. Flying in that forest was dangerous as there always was a tree in front of you, Pelli needed to move swiftly or she would collide with one.

Even after such a long time, the forest remained quite the beauty; the sun partially illuminated the ground due to the density of the leaves coming from the huge branches. She remembered first looking out of her family's trunk, she thought the whole world was as pretty. Oh how ignorant she was, not only is the world not as pretty, but the people lack that quality as well, but mostly mentally. She flew past a tree, spotted a white shape and looked behind her.

She then felt a shivering wave of pain go through her body as her right wing collided with a tree and sent her flying. She could only muster a small screech as she was unable to regain control of her flight path. As she started accepting her faith, she saw the white spot again, but this time, under her, as the other owl attempted to lift her up. Pelli helped herself by flapping her wings and was soon stable in the air again. She quickly landed on a branch to regain her composure.

The other owl descended and landed near her. It was a male barn owl, with a heart-shaped face as Soren's is. If she had not spent countless hours observing her mentor, she could have thought that the owl in front of her was him, but he did not bear the significantly big eye scar she had delivered to Soren. She did not remember this particular owl from when she was young, so she decided to engage in conversation.

"Thank you, for saving me" she said.

"No problem." He asked immediately, "What's your name?"

"Pellimore, yours?" She could have been dreaming, but she could have sworn to have seen a flash of happiness, surprise and yet quite mischievous in the eyes of the owl in front of her.

"My name is of no importance" He announced and smiled at her "Where are you off to?"

"I was trying to find my old hollow" was all she dared say to a complete stranger.

"What made you leave?"

One question too many. Upon hearing his words, Pelli got nervous, something wasn't right. This owl was too interested in her "Wanderlust" she lied.

The strange owl looked out to the other trees, and apparently spotted something. As he screeched, it was soon followed by another, and another, and another. She panicked _Pure Ones_ the owl finally realised. She quickly departed from the branch, slashing at her savior as she went by. He let out an even louder screech then he had before. Her assumptions were proven true when Pelli saw four barn owls leaving branches and encircling her.

She had not received any instructions or learned of the way to fight multiple owls at a time. Sure she had observed Soren, _but he moved so fast,_ _I couldn't see anything he was doing… _She finally came to realisation. _Keep moving_! She exclaimed mentally.

She dived down towards the ground, hoping that the enemy owls would separate and leave her some room. She was correct, as the lead owl seemed to yell out orders and dive down himself. His henchmen went in various directions, mostly meant to cut her off and neutralise her. Pelli was confident in her abilities. She had rarely hit any trees in these woods, one was recent, the others old. She aimed for where the forest was thickest, and found quite the nice spot as she heard her chasing owl collide into a tree with a devastating _Crack!_

She kept flying and dodging trees left and right. She could see an owl speeding besides her in the line of trees. This one seemed to handle himself better than the previous. It was trying to get to her but it was quite difficult to get to something when dodging this amount of trees, though he was getting close. Pelli knew that she lacked the endurance to do this for ever, so she decided to stop, suddenly. The owl that was next to her looked back, and collided head first into a tree, falling down to his doom. Seeing this Pellimore let out a victory screech, attracting unwanted attention as another barn owl converged towards her position.

She brought her wings back, making herself fall lower as the owl flew above her. Pelli was surprised when the other owl managed to stop before hitting the tree, and evenly shocked when he darted towards her at an amazing speed, propelling himself off the big trunk of the massive tree. She barely managed to dodge the clever retaliation by dropping once more. The other owl tried repeating his strategy on another trunk, but this time Pellimore was ready for him and drew out a claw, killing him instantly. She was soon being hit from two separate directions; she decided to wait until both the owls attacked her simultaneously. A couple seconds later, both owls were falling to the ground unconscious. She had flapped her wings quickly, bringing herself higher as the owls collided into each other head-first.

Her confidence taking over, she swiftly turned around and charged recklessly at an oncoming enemy. As she hit him, the Pure One put his claws under her belly, turned over and smashed her down on a branch. The other heart-faced owl was not standing above her, one claw on one of her wings, and the other in the air, about to strike the final blow. She hated that it had to end this way, before she could become a Guardian, before she could save innocents, even before she could be with Soren. Even then, she faced the claw with eyes that did not betray her fear, despite how horrified she was.

The enemy started raising his claw, staring her down with his blood –red eyes. Just as he brought his claw down, she heard an angry voice.

"I SAID ALIVE!"


End file.
